Obama bow???!!!!!

Today, jianyang brought up something about President Obama bowing to foreign leaders such as the Japanese Emperor Akihito and that it has somewhat caused a big hoo-ha among the conservatives back at the states. Well, we were saying that it's an act of humility and that somewhat nowadays world leaders seems to be much better ( or should I say diplomatic) then compared to the past. Remember George (war) Bush?..he was kinda aggressive in his campaign against terror. Somehow, Obama's administration seems to be very very diplomatic in every front.

Many internet opinions especially by the conservatives are that it is utterly wrong for the US president to show such acts of ' weakness' to foreign leaders. In my opinion, I don't see that there is anything wrong in showing acts of humility and stuff. Yes, as the world's most powerful leader( not less with the help of the media), he should show some kind of back-bone and stuff. However, I think that it is absolutely in US interest for them to build some kind of rapport, a better relations with other leaders, especially China. China, will eventually be the biggest market(literally with that many people) in the world and will be an important world player. Will she become the most powerful nation? That is still unanswered because there is still a lot of restrictions as well as that so far China had not done much on a global scale unlike USA.

But, she will be the place where riches can be found, and it will stand in USA favour to be with good terms with China. I think Obama also recognize this fact as well and sometimes it doesn't pay to keep going heads on..and I think this is an act of diplomacy so to farther improve relations between them.

Actually, after around 11 months of Obama administration, he has definitely been around the world trying to repair relations with various nations which I think is a good thing. As the US can not be alone and is rather dependent on other nations as well. i.e China, which actually holds a substantial amount of US treasuries...However, as for how effective his administration are, still remains a mystery. He had been trying to overhaul the entire healthcare system in the midst of the financial mess left behind, which had not been exactly successful>.< ...The market demand in the US is still very far from the peaks in 07 and 08,although there had been indicators which shows improvements. But, it might be due to X'mas factor, being why consumers are willing to spend again..but the unemployment rates are still high. Is he a better choice than McCain ? Its still hard to tell...

2012. The end?

Watched the movie 2012 with boon on saturday after the AFA 09. Its a very very emo. show to begin with cause its the end of the world and stuff like that. Surprisingly, its good with the way they use nature to create the catastrophe and the forecasts by the mayans to add a touch( or rather a huge touch) of realism to this movie.

In the movie, Armageddon was caused by the sun's repetitive solar storms that heats up the earth's core over the next 3 years from 2009 to 2012. And eventually the earth's core will be so hot that the magnetic poles of earth will change and that earthquakes and tsunamis(see wad i mean by realism) will totally tear the earth apart. And in the movie, mass people died.

The movie was not bad cuz it touches on a variety of topics like Anarchy, Elitism, Rich and Poor inequality, human morals and ethics, courage and being rational. I think the more annoying part was the rich and poor inequality with the rich being able to have a chance to survive rather than the poor and if going by the initial plan of the world's leaders( which is to have the best and youthful humans to procreate), why on earth is an old lady who is super rich allowed to be saved then....so u can see the contrasting ideals of the world's leaders. The saddest part I think was that a young indian scientist was the one who initially alerted the world of this catastrophe, but in the end, he wasn't saved even though the US govt. had said that they would...but well...cuz being in a 3rd world country, that sort of deprives him of a ticket.

Also, when everyone knew that they are going to die, anarchy rule the day...that I have nothing to say because its in everybody that survivability is of the utmost importance. But its seriously very sad to see it happens, people stampede and pushing each other off the ledge...

Naturally, the movie makes one want to go find out more about 2012 and the solar storms. Of course, I had knew of Nostradamus predictions that 2012, the world will undergo a massive change, and somehow a lot was link to the end of the world. But like what jy said, eventually analysts of Nostradamus said its up to human choice. And, in recent news, NASA had earlier released in march 2009 that there will be a massive solar storm occurring in 2012 around there and that it will be strong enough to wipe out the entire east coast of USA power grid. Which in other words mean that electricity will be totally cut off, everything will be down....imagine wad a huge impact will it be on the world. Barely recovering from the 2008 sub prime, now wall street for all its computers and trading platforms, will totally shut down. Imagine what a huge catastrophe that not only is on USA but on the rest of the world as well....

As of now, the news have been mainly said that it will affect the northern hemisphere....so maybe it might not happened to the equatorial countries, but the far-reaching effects of it may cause turmoil around the globe. But of course, I am sure the USA will be definitely beef up their power grids and stuffs...I mean come on, if the whole world knows about this and it was released by your very own space agency, u mean u are going to ignore it??...whether it will be sufficient enough no one knows, and about the fundings to fund the program...well, its gonna add more zeros to the budget deficit of the nation.

On a side note, I wonder whether this solar storm will actually cause any more other side effects...as the ozone layer is already rather thin itself, will more UV rays actually reach us?? and isn't that terrible?? with the earth farther heating up..and sea levels rise even more. And due to the large ejection of magnetically charged particles, will the already shifting of the magnetic poles be accelerated?? Which in turn will again distort all our devices and it may cause problems to nature...

Therefore, I dont think that 2012 will be the end of the world, but rather maybe what Nostradamus meant was that our way of life may be seriously altered by this solar storm...it might lead to an acceleration to our current eco-problems and stuff. So I think its up to our choice on how are we going to prevent,react and how prepared are we to such a storm...but then again...it might never ever happen...however if based on graphs and patterns provided by NASA, then it most probably should be lor. I meant the solar storm not the end of the world lah...lol...But i think such stuff do really get everyones worries up by an inch, I am sure

If u have two persons engaged in a verbal battle, the solution is to have at least one who is clear headed...and not get carried away by useless emotions....

Recipe for a lousy and sad day

Ingredients:
No iPod for 2 days...
PBJ never reply me...
Can't Find anyone to go AFA 09 with me...
I cause POSB coins deposit machine at Serangoon central to jammed...
Raining Cats & Dogs...

Mix it all up and ta-da...emo nemo-ness to the max..=$

Breaking Free of this Enclosure

Today, was on the bus with jianyang, and we were just chatting about our APEC volunteering. He told me that he met this malaysian guy who was helping out at APEC. As they chatted, the guy told him that he wants to come to Singapore to work and stuff, its because that the malaysian government is really biased towards the malays. (its in their constitution btw) Then, it was real difficult to carve out a career in malaysia and stuff. He told jy that he is willing to sacrifice to break out of this unfair treatment and he uprooted his entire family to singapore. He sold everything in malaysia( he was staying in a condo. btw) and shifted to a flat here on our sunny island.

"Break Out"...this few words struck me. The idea of break out first occur to me when I was introduced to the book "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by my mum when I was in J1. I would have to say that kiyosaki wrote in a very engaging manner and that it sort of like gives me that this is the way to go...its so easy. But of course, it never was. His notion was to break out of the rat race. It is this very circle that traps most of us in our day to day mundane life. Wake up. work.tv. and the cycle continues all over again, and soon one will retire...Sounds tragic hur...actually everyone wants to achieve that, but it ain't easy, seriously. This idea of breaking out of the rat race, also signify going against social norms. It involves going against what society(consists of friends/loved ones/media) felt was right. And particularly for me, it is rather difficult to be a loner...haha...unlike JY=P...I meant it is hard to ignore the norms and go and do what only you believed is right? This is the brick-wall.

Yesterday, watched Randy Paush's last lecture on youtube, I think its really inspirational and all. I got the book before I watch the video, but watching him giving the speech is a totally different experience. It's all about living your childhood dreams and eventually the head fake, was about how to live life. His book has more stuff compared to the lecture that he gave though, so you might want to consider. If you all want to read, I can lend you as well.=)

The Room. My Resolve.

The same place we share.
Different memories and emotions are tie to it.
It can be a place for rest to some.
Others it became a place to cry.
Or a place to reflect.
Any place can be the Room Of Requirement.
All one needs is a thought of escaping from reality.

To me, the place where I have frequently found the Room is where my best friend initially brought me there. Its just a very normal place, its shared by the public...I think its a place where many found their own Room(s). The very place where no one can enter it unless a special permission is given by the user. It has held on my memories,thoughts and secrets that no one knows...as with others who have made contact with it. I was there again just now, enter and pondered. I have decided on my resolve, my position in this chapter, I won't be beaten down. If thats what life or whoever up there is going to throw at me, I will gladly take up the challenge. I will bounce back, I dont care if I am going to fail again, I dont care if there is suffering again, I dont care if I might cause my whole life to crumble. I will make sure all these things are not going to happen, I will do it my way...the way that I held my principles and beliefs...bring it on..

Its all about how much you value something, and how far you are willing to go for it.

Some days

Some days are harder than before.

Some days I can't even think.

Some days I can't eat or sleep.

Some days I can't even leave my bed.

Some days I feel like giving up.

Some days are okay.

Some days I don't even cry.

Some days I don't miss you that much.

Some days I don't need to fake a smile.

Some days I almost feel happy again.

Some days I know I will be okay.

this is from my friend's blog. really nice. kinda melancholic. pretty much sums up our lives. There is a day for everything, every feeling that we experienced. I think the moral of the story here is to press on. Currently, I am tired...at this point of time , but tml will be another day and it may yet be a day where I will continue the journey.=)

Unexpectedness

I was reading my bestie's blog and its...hmm...let say that its filled with emotions.=) And its not the emo kind lah. I can seriously feel her feelings and everything. Maybe its nicely written or wad...and it just open my eyes to her world. The world which I never seen before, the world out there, which I rejected if given the opportunity to go. I remembered her insecurities of going over to UK, and her initial year there was quite cui....but I am glad she made the trip.

On hindsight, her overseas studies also help me overcome our issues together that we had in the past, as well as it sort of made me grow up I think?...haha. I also remembered that she was afraid of herself changing, I told her at that point of time, that I have confidence in her that she will still remain the same sam that I know. Well, after 2 years, I am glad that she is still the same in some ways =)...of course there will be some changes, as nothing is ever constant. Overall, she is still the same old sam that I knew.

Recently, I had been rather bothered by the lack of time or might be due to my impatience or wadsoever. I was particularly annoyed by my inability to understand some concepts as well as I am unable to answer questions without referring to this and that as well as I have no friggin ideas what the marker wants and stuff. Then my other commitments started to pop up in my head...and I suddenly felt that time is not enough. Somehow, when I read her entry, its nice?? haha...I also dunno why feel more relaxed leh...might be the english air that I can feel..lolz Or is it that she had grown in some ways? I dunno...I just felt real happy for her...haha

And suddenly, I dont feel so bad about my situation anymore. Maybe its the vibes that I am getting from her. The feeling of 'initally its the hardest, but the end is worth it'...haha I seriously dont knw...but I am glad I read tht entry.=)